The original “gangster of love” may have had the most versatile axe careers of all the guitarists on this list. Johnny “Guitar” Watson was a Blues star in the 50’s and easily one of the masters of the Stratocaster. Watson switched off to become a Funk specialist in the 70’s, which showed off his range and ability. The amount of guitarists (Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Steve Miller and Sly Stone for example) who claimed to have learned or borrowed from Watson is a long one indeed. What hurts Watson for induction is as acclaimed as he was in music circles, he too often drifted out of the spotlight and he just isn’t known as much as he probably should be.